The problem is that people see quality restorations selling at high prices and think because they dialed in a couple trimmers, couple Bursts of deoxit and some leds that their units are "completely serviced or restored". The others are just plain nuts! I see some sellers looking for outrageous prices for stuff, some 5-8 times what they are actually worth. This, in turn, unrealistically drives prices on lower end stuff up as well. It's a bubble and i hope it pops soon.

I don't think it will. These units are not getting any less scarce. I pay attention mostly to receiver prices and they are up a solid 30-40% in the last couple of years. I don't see any forces that will bring that down when you can get a bidding war on a 2600 that might hit five figures - crazy as that may seem.

It's funny, 'cause I'm pretty much done with Superscope Marantz '69-'77, as pretty as it is. Doesn't float my boat like the stuff Saul had a hand in, or the tweaked house sound of the Superscope "silver dial" era, let alone the goodies made over the last 25 years.

I've had a small mountain of vintage Marantz pass through my hands in the in the last twelve years, and I agree that the appreciation has been breathtaking. If I had it all back today, I could probably afford to pay off a sizeable chunk of my house. Or buy an esoteric high-end rig.

People need to stop bidding on these auctions as crazy as that may sound. I can fully understand folks trying to win an auction for a nice piece of vintage gear that is priced below its market value, but once the prices climbs beyond the worth of the item, I don't understand why people continue to bid. There have been several pieces of gear that I have bid on when the price was reasonable only to see it sell for two or three times more. When I see a (unrestored) 50 wpc vintage receiver for a decent price end up selling for $389 I have to ask myself why in the world would someone pay such an outrageous price for something like this? I realize that some vintage receivers are worth more than others, but I don't understand why some folks are spending these huge sums for gear that is no longer under warranty. As much as I would like to own a Marantz 2330 receiver, I will never spend the $$$ that gear like this is currently commanding.

Limited supply, haven't been made for years.
Repairable, restorable.
No reasonable priced competition. Does anyone make a class AB receiver with those looks and feel?
I know of nothing like a vintage Marantz, or many other brands.

The days of cheap and available have been over for years.
That's why we post "scores".

FWIW, buyers outside US are paying and taking them so it is a global thing. Get them while you can.

"Worth" is measured by what people are willing to pay for anything. After being out of the audio hobby for 20 years, I jumped back in a bit over two years ago. At the time, I wanted to relive my younger days by getting a clean, working 2270. I paid about $500 and was happy to pay it. Today, the same unit would be at least $700-$800. But when I bought mine and jumped on AK to learn more about the hobby, I found the long-timers complaining that they could no longer find the $50 garage sale/estate sale prices. I figured out at the time that I had missed the "glory days" by a few years. Since I jumped in late, the prices don't seem that outrageous to me. But I can sure see how they would if you had been active in the hobby when those units were considered close to trash. I don't see the trend reversing any time soon because there is clearly high demand and low supply. But you can still find relative "bargains" if you look for units that need work and either already know how to restore them or are willing to learn.

In December, I spent a couple of thousand for four Marantz components on Shopgoodwill for several reasons. I am a first time Marantz owner. It wasn't really for the sound, as I already own a pretty good system of SAE equipment which I am happy with. My initial thought was to flip the equipment and make a few buck as I have done this a number of times in the past with some Hafler stuff and others receivers, one of which was a mint Pioneer SX-1250 and others. I used those sales to build the system I wanted. But when this shipment arrived and I opened up the boxes, the pieces are beyond industrial design, beyond bling, they are truly art. Similar to even a novice looking at a Jaguar E Type, nearly anyone observing could see easily Marantz pieces are unique and beautiful. I had a conversation with someone here on the forum about being younger (59 now), these pieces were eye candy, analogous to Farah Fawcett or today, perhaps Kate Upton. They were kept in a separate, upscale room from the ordinary in stores like Tech HiFi, Crazy Eddie's, and Uncle Steve's stereo outlets, the sound rooms I could never afford to enter. I'm not sure, after they're checked out by a tech, what I'm going to do. It's going to be a difficult decision.

Folks slurping em on AK, the place that shows up when someone searches a unit, only fuels the fire. Probably good we don't talk about all brands that made great gear as being the one to get like the Stereo Store Lust units from Pio/Mar/Sui. Good if you have em and want to count paper profits or actually cash in, but not so good if you are looking for a few of those units.

It should keep them from being trashed, I hope.
A customer just told me he threw away a unit and now needs parts from it. Aaaaaaarh!

It is relative. If you check MSRP for good gear in the 70s, do the inflation thing, it's obvious why they don't make them like they did. The stuff WAS expensive in the time it was new. $1000 in 1975 was serious money.

This rising vintage tide will eventually lift other boats as well. I haven't been exactly looking but I would bet that others like Kenwood will be next to be priced out of sight.

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I paid $350 for a legit refurbed 2240 back in November, this week online I saw 2 of them at 499.00 and 525.00..that's skyrocketing in my book, but still allowing for inflation against intrinsic value it may play out to be valid pricing...I wish I had bought an astronomically priced 1958 Les Paul Std. in 1976 when it was offered to me for $1,200 dollars, they bring in half a million now...so overall I think it's still well in hand for something that does have a high level of demand and quality..

I think a lot of the appeal and subsequent high prices of vintage Marantz is due to their looks, especially to those who want vintage for the image. And there are a lot of people willing to pay a lot for image. Somehow Marantz nailed some visual language that really holds up over time. They just scream class and quality. A lot of other brand receivers of that time kind of look alike. I was recently looking at my Onkyo tx-4500 and my Pioneer sx-636, and apart from a few differences, the layout is almost exactly the same, and the overall design cues are very similar. Marantz receivers just look timeless, where others just look old.

Wonder what is driving this huge price swing? I know that they are not making anymore of this, but I believe there is more to it. I somehow think some of it is simply a way for the boomers to buy what they lusted for in their youth but couldn't afford, and as the more buy it, the more want to. That and maybe a bit of backlash from the throw it away/built in obsolescence tack that the digital age seems to have taken with many things electronic. Then there are those massive silver aluminum anodized face plates! And heavy duty knobs machined out of solid blocks of aluminum, the look and feel of it. Lastly I think it can still (even with higher prices) be a pretty good bang for the higher SQ buck if chosen right.

As a collector and high end seller of Marantz here are my observations. Most of my customers are like me. We grew up in the 70's owning what a kid in high school back then could afford. Fast forward many years later and fortunately now we can afford that vintage audio piece that eluded us for years. Most of my customers indicate to me that they have wanting to buy a Marantz for years and now they can finally afford that dream receiver they have always wanted. I'm also seeing younger buyers wanting the vintage gear as well.

A second reason that drives the vintage demand is what is available today. The current throw away black plastic receivers today just don't have the sound or looks like the vintage gear. I hear this all the time.

The third reason is the stock market has been good for many years which has created more discretionary income. Watch if the next serious stock market correction does not bring down the prices a bit.

If you complain about the high prices now then you either have to accept things as they are or sit on the sidelines and hope they come down on price in the future. Personally i am not waiting, I think the values will hold or go up even more (depending on the stock market).

As a collector and high end seller of Marantz here are my observations. Most of my customers are like me. We grew up in the 70's owning what a kid in high school back then could afford. Fast forward many years later and fortunately now we can afford that vintage audio piece that eluded us for years. Most of my customers indicate to me that they have wanting to buy a Marantz for years and now they can finally afford that dream receiver they have always wanted. I'm also seeing younger buyers wanting the vintage gear as well.

A second reason that drives the vintage demand is what is available today. The current throw away black plastic receivers today just don't have the sound or looks like the vintage gear. I hear this all the time.

The third reason is the stock market has been good for many years which has created more discretionary income. Watch if the next serious stock market correction does not bring down the prices a bit.

If you complain about the high prices now then you either have to accept things as they are or sit on the sidelines and hope they come down on price in the future. Personally i am not waiting, I think the values will hold or go up even more (depending on the stock market).